Sessions

Session 1: What is Living System Ministry? Part 1 with Jeff Bass

Living System Ministry is a discipline of Christian practice that recognizes the differences between the living systems that God makes and the constructs that people make, offering insights and practical tools to help us align with and effectively engage living social systems.

Session 2: Building a Great Budget Part 1 with Dana Wade

What are the principles of developing a budget in 2018 for visionary, sustainable ministry?

Session 3: The Right Team Part 1 with Nika Elugardo

Each of us are called to be leaders, but what kind of leader are you? Visionary? Developer? Manager? Or a Do-er (worker bee)? (VDMD) Learning your strengths will help you lead better as well as train others to lead from their natural inclinations. You will also identify which of these people are missing from your team. For example, is your team heavy with visionaries but no managers?

Session 4: Living System Ministry? Part 2 with Jeff Bass

Now that we have learned about LSM – how does LSM apply to the world of human trafficking?

Session 5: Building a Great Budget by Choosing the Right Grant Part 2 with Dana Wade

Grants may sound great to you. Or, grants may sound overwhelming. Either way, Dana will unpack the myths and facts around grants and grant writing.

Session 6: The Right Team Part 2 with Nika Elugardo

Most people are inclined toward being a Visionary, Developer, Manager, or Do-er, but as leaders of nonprofits we often have to move through all four roles in order to get the job done. The same is true for the organizations and ministries that we run--they go through the stages of V, D, M, D. In this lecture we will think about where our organizations and ministries are in the cycle of V, D, M, D and where we want them to be headed.

Workshops (Choose 2)

Successful Capacity Building Part 1 with Ellen Bass (2-parts - cannot do Part 2 without Part 1)

What is your mission? How do you know if your agency is meeting its mission? Do you know how to improve your programs’ effectiveness? How consistently do you help your participants achieve their goals? This workshop will help you identify answers to these questions and thus build a more effective ministry.

Successful Capacity Building Part 2 with Ellen Bass (Part 2 - you must attend part 1 for part 2)

For nonprofits that identify as direct service this workshop will help you build sustainable practices that will allow your ministry to last for years.

Restorative Justice: Applying Living System Ministry to the Frontlines of Injustice with Mako Nagasawa

The term “justice” means different things to different people. Some mean "meritocratic-retributive justice" based on human deeds. Others mean "distributive justice" based on human needs. Some mean "libertarian justice" based on individual freedom. But the Bible has a vision for "restorative justice" based on God's vision for relationship. The Biblical vision encompasses, reframes and challenges the other principles. This reframing is very practical for addressing our crises of human trafficking, mass incarceration, the environment, children and economics. This workshop will discuss the biblical foundations and how the paradigm can be used in evangelism--especially for those with a heart for social transformation.

Self Care: “It’s You and the Holy Spirit Out There, Don’t Forget to Check-In” with Yovanny Pulcini

This will be a group approach to understanding ourselves and the need to build in margins into our lives. Margins are best built when we continue to interact with the Holy Spirit on a daily basis. Margins help us leave room for emergencies--and not feel rushed when a client needs more time than the hour allowed, or a volunteer needs more of our time than expected. We can use time for these moments without feeling rushed because we have built in margins.

Table Discussions

Small Group Table Discussions will provide an opportunity for each group to go deeper into what they just learned and begin to think about how to apply it to their own ministries.

In an effort to protect attendees, Venue, Hotel & Transportation Information will only be provided after registration.

Hotel accommodations are walking distance from the venue.

Rooms will cost $250 a night and sleep four people.

Instructors

Ellen Bass

Ellen founded and leads the Nonprofit Performance Management Consultant Network www.nppmnetwork.org to improve the effectiveness of human service nonprofits nationally by engaging consultants, nonprofits and funders to invest in performance management practices. She serves on the Board of Directors of Idealware, which helps nonprofits make smart technology decisions. With an MBA in public and nonprofit management, Ellen has served in resource development for 20 years and in program development for thirty-five years in both secular and faith-based organization that serve youth in the Boston community.

Ellen and her husband Jeff live in Boston; they have 2 grown sons. She loves coaching young women leaders, helping her church grow in discipleship and racial equity, bike commuting, and hot weather.

Jeff Bass

Jeff Bass joined the staff of EGC in 1991, and was named executive director in 1999. A graduate of Princeton University, Jeff first worked as a consultant for Arthur D. Little, Inc., but left in 1987 to become the business manager of a local church, where he learned first-hand about the inner workings of an urban congregation. In 2014, Jeff was granted an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree from Gordon College. Jeff is an avid tennis player and wine enthusiast. He and his wife, Ellen, are active members of River of Life Church in Boston, have two adult children, and one amazing granddaughter.

Nika Elugardo, MPP, JD

Nika Elugardo began her career as a coalition-builder and advocate in 1996, managing the National Consumer Law Center’s Foreclosure Prevention Project, a research-driven, private-public sector partnership. Nika’s work as Leadership Systems Architect with Emmanuel Gospel Center has focused on equipping corporate, nonprofit and public leaders to work together to plan and impact sustainable and data-informed social movements. She has also done extensive work in addressing the need for responses to combat global sex trafficking. She holds a B.S. from MIT, a Master’s in Public Policy from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, and a J.D. from Boston University. Before attending law school in 2007, Nika worked at EGC for seven years in development and consulting.

Mako Nagasawa

Mako grew up in Cerritos, CA and attended Stanford University where he studied Industrial Engineering and Public Policy with a focus on Education. He worked at Intel Corp for 6 years while serving a Spanish-speaking ministry to Mexican immigrants in East Palo Alto, CA. He married Ming in 1999 and they moved to Boston, MA. He then worked for 2 startup companies trying to bring technology and jobs to inner city communities. Since 1999, Mako, Ming and their 2 children, John and Zoe, have lived among friends in a Christian intentional community house in a mostly black neighborhood in Dorchester. They enjoy attending Neighborhood Church of Dorchester and do urban community gardening. Mako co-authored the Lazarus at the Gate economic discipleship curriculum with Dr. Gary VanderPol. He contributed to the Justice Study Bible as a commentator on Ezekiel.

Yovanny Pulcini

Yovanny Pulcini leads the Women’s Ministry of the English Service at Lion of Judah. Her calling is to equip women to grow spiritually, personally and professionally while helping them discover their purpose in God’s kingdom. She is a lay minister whose experience includes young adult ministry, Sunday school teaching and organizing large-scale church events. She holds a BA in English Literature and an MA in Spanish Literature, both from the University of Houston. She also holds a Certificate in Publishing from NYU and most of her professional career has been spent working within the educational publishing industry. She is currently involved in the launch and redesign of Lion of Judah's website and spends most of her leisure time reading books and articles on professional and career development, organization and productivity.

Dana Wade, MA

Dana Wade has served on Emmanuel Gospel Center’s Development team as Grants Manager since 2002, providing leadership with fundraising, special events, and communications. She also provides technical assistance and workshops on proposal writing and fundraising for nonprofits. Professionally, Dana worked as the manager of contributions at John Hancock Financial Services where she reviewed funding proposals, conducted site visits, provided technical assistance to nonprofits, and helped plan and run corporate events. She earned a Master’s degree in urban affairs from Boston University. Dana lives in Boston and serves in leadership at her church in Boston.